| $@%&! level: Low “Bedroom” level: Medium-Low Violence level: Medium Back Cover: “Speculation runs rampant throughout the kingdom of Gwynedd as to when, and to whom, King Kelson will finally be wed. As a rival monarch takes his rightful place on the throne of a nearby land, it becomes more imperative than ever that Kelson produce a long-awaited heir. With the mystical Deryni blood flowing through his veins, Kelson can only hope for a woman whose power and conviction are equal to his own. Love is set aside for duty—and Kelson the king must make the choice that Kelson the man cannot....” |
However--it isn’t all about matrimony, and it’s far from devoid of action and violence. That’s because for some people, political maneuvering involves assassination attempts, and this is apparently even more true in Torenth. That’s right, for this installment, we’re headed back to the original enemy nation, but this time in a non-war setting. Since Torenth was officially conquered at the end of High Deryni, you can imagine that there’s plenty of resentment built up, which makes for a lovely atmosphere of suspense. It’s obvious they’re going to try something, but no one is sure when or what. Or, indeed, who. They spend a lot of time wondering who, if anyone, they can trust.
In spite of all the Torenthi can do, though, it’s still a pretty slow build up, and though the climax is spectacular, it’s also rather brief. The feeling of the whole book is that it’s wrapping up loose ends, getting the characters into their happy ending places, and generally resolving as many problems as possible. Kelson ends up happily married, Rothana and her son get themselves settled, Nigel accepts Conall’s illegitimate daughter, Jehana begins to accept the idea that being Deryni doesn’t automatically lead to eternal damnation, Toreth is turned from enemy to friend, and even the Mearan succession gets happily tied back into the Haldane line. There are still a few interesting possibilities for future problems with the Camberian Council if Katherine Kurtz finds herself wanting to continue, but it could just as happily be left just as it is.
So altogether, although I personally loved reading this book, I suspect that’s because I just really like spending time with these characters, and would probably be happy to do so even if nothing more interesting than the occasional brawl or archery contest happened. It’s entirely possible that someone who isn’t as enamored as I am would find it less interesting than they’d hoped. Not boring, exactly, since as I said, there are a number of attempts on various lives, and the mystery of who ordered those attempts, and the suspense of going knowingly into a dangerous situation. But certainly not as exciting as the previous scenes of war and torture, capture and escape. Even so, I myself found it supremely satisfying, and would enthusiastically recommend it to anyone who loves these characters as much as I do.